Bridgefront Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 36,692 Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC)

Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecopetrol S.A. (NYSE:EC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 36,692 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $291,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of EC. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ecopetrol during the fourth quarter valued at $203,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 220.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 182,166 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 125,383 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 108,826 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $862,000 after purchasing an additional 31,715 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 479,127 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $3,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus ETF Advisers LLC boosted its position in Ecopetrol by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Virtus ETF Advisers LLC now owns 19,371 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 5,887 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com cut Ecopetrol from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup upgraded Ecopetrol from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $14.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecopetrol from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $7.50 to $9.50 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecopetrol currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Ecopetrol Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EC traded up $0.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.67. 1,646,827 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,809,009. Ecopetrol S.A. has a 1-year low of $7.21 and a 1-year high of $12.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average price is $9.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.79.

Ecopetrol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 6th. Investors of record on Monday, April 28th were given a dividend of $0.5202 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 28th. This represents a dividend yield of 34.2%. Ecopetrol's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.25%.

Ecopetrol Profile

Ecopetrol SA operates as an integrated energy company. The company operates through four segments: Exploration and Production; Transport and Logistics; Refining, Petrochemical and Biofuels; and Electric Power Transmission and Toll Roads Concessions. It engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas; transportation of crude oil, motor fuels, fuel oil, and other refined products, including diesel, jet, and biofuels; processing and refining crude oil; distribution of natural gas and LPG; sale of refined and petrochemical products; supplying of electric power transmission services; design, development, construction, operation, and maintenance of road and energy infrastructure projects; and supplying of information technology and telecommunications services.